Chapter XVIII: Preface (1)

As in corporal distempers a total loss of appetite, which no medicines can restore, forebodes certain decay and death; so in the spiritual life of the soul, a neglect or disrelish of pious reading and instruction is a most fatal symptom. What hopes can we entertain of a person to whom the science of virtue and of eternal salvation doth not seem interesting, or worth his application? "It is impossible," says St. Chrysostom,[1] "that a man should be saved, who neglects assiduous pious reading or consideration. Handicraftsmen will rather suffer hunger and all other hardships than lose the instruments of their trade, knowing them to be the means of their subsistence." No less criminal and dangerous is the disposition of those who misspend their precious moments in reading romances and play-books, which fill the mind with a worldly spirit, with a love of vanity, pleasure, idleness, and trifling; which destroy and lay waste all the generous sentiments of virtue in the heart, and sow there the seeds of every vice, which extend their baneful roots over the whole soil. Who seeks nourishment from poisons? What food is to the body, that our thoughts and reflections are to the mind: by them the affections of the soul are nourished. The chameleon changes its color as it is affected by sadness, anger, or joy; or by the color upon which it sits: and we see an insect borrow its lustre and hue from the plant or leaf upon which it feeds. In like manner, what our meditations and affections are, such will our souls become, either holy and spiritual or earthly and carnal. By pious reading the mind is instructed and enlightened, and the affections of the heart are purified and inflamed. It is recommended by St. Paul as the summary of spiritual advice.[2] Devout persons never want a spur to assiduous reading or meditation. They are insatiable in this exercise, and, according to the golden motto of Thomas a Kempis, they find their chief delight _in a closet, with a good book_.[3] Worldly and tepid Christians stand certainly in the utmost need of this help to virtue. The world is a whirlpool of business, pleasure, and sin. Its torrent is always beating upon their hearts, ready to break in and bury them under its flood, unless frequent pious reading and consideration oppose a strong fence to its waves. The more deeply a person is immersed in its tumultuous cares, so much the greater ought to be his solicitude to find leisure to breathe, after the fatigues and dissipation of business and company; to plunge his heart, by secret prayer, in the ocean of the divine immensity, and, by pious reading, to afford his soul some spiritual refection; as the wearied husbandman, returning from his labor, recruits his spent vigor and exhausted strength, by allowing his body necessary refreshment and repose.

The lives of the saints furnish the Christian with a daily spiritual entertainment, {046} which is not less agreeable than affecting and instructive. For in sacred biography the advantages of devotion and piety are joined with the most attractive charms of history. The method of forming men to virtue by example, is, of all others, the shortest, the most easy, and the best adapted to all circumstances and dispositions. Pride recoils at precepts, but example instructs without usurping the authoritative air of a master; for, by example, a man seems to advise and teach himself. It does its work unperceived, and therefore with less opposition from the passions, which take not the alarm. Its influence is communicated with pleasure. Nor does virtue here appear barren and dry as in discourses, but animated and living, arrayed with all her charms, exerting all her powers, and secretly obviating the pretences, and removing the difficulties which self-love never fails to raise. In the lives of the saints we see the most perfect maxims of the gospel reduced to practice, and the most heroic virtue made the object of our senses, clothed as it were with a body, and exhibited to view in its most attractive dress. Here, moreover, we are taught the means by which virtue is obtained, and learn the precipices and snares which we are to shun, and the blinds and by-ways in which many are bewildered and misled in its pursuit. The example of the servants of God points out to us the true path, and leads us as it were by the hand into it, sweetly inviting and encouraging us to walk cheerfully in the steps of those that are gone before us.

Neither is it a small advantage that, by reading the history of the saints, we are introduced into the acquaintance of the greatest personages who have ever adorned the world, the brightest ornaments of the church militant, and the shining stars and suns of the triumphant, our future companions in eternal glory. While we admire the wonders of grace and mercy, which God hath displayed in their favor, we are strongly moved to praise his adorable goodness. And, in their penitential lives and holy maxims, we learn the sublime lessons of practical virtue, which their assiduous meditation on the divine word, the most consummate experience in their deserts, watchings, and commerce with heaven, and the lights of the Holy Ghost, their interior Master, discovered to them. But it is superfluous to show from reason the eminent usefulness of the example, and the history of the saints, which the most sacred authority recommends to us as one of the most powerful helps to virtue. It is the admonition of St. Paul, that we remember our holy teachers, and that, having the end of their conversation before our eyes, we imitate their faith.[4]

For our instruction the Holy Ghost himself inspired the prophets to record the lives and actions of many illustrious saints in the holy scriptures. The church could not, in a more solemn manner, recommend to us to have these great models often before our eyes, than by inserting in her daily office an abstract of the lives of the martyrs and other saints; which constant sacred custom is derived from the primitive ages, in which the histories of the martyrs were publicly read at the divine office, in the assemblies of the faithful, on their annual festivals. This is testified of the acts of St. Polycarp in the life of St. Pionius, and, by St. Austin,[5] of those of SS. Perpetua and Felicitas, &c. The council of Africa, under Aurelius, archbishop of Carthage, in 397, mentions the acts of the martyrs being allowed to be read in the church on their anniversary days.[6] St. Caesarius permitted persons that were sick and weak, to hear the histories of the martyrs sitting, when they were of an uncommon length; but complained that some who were healthful unreasonably took the same liberty.[7]

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All great masters of a spiritual life exceedingly extol the advantages which accrue to souls from the devout reading of the lives of eminent saints; witness St. Nilus,[8] St. Chrysostom, and others. Many fathers have employed their pens in transmitting down to posterity the actions of holy men. And the histories of saints were the frequent entertainment and delight of all pious persons, who ever found in them a most powerful means of their encouragement and advancement in virtue, as St. Bonaventure writes of St. Francis of Assisium. "By the remembrance of the saints, as by the touch of glowing stones of fire, he was himself enkindled, and converted into a divine flame." St. Stephen of Grandmont read their lives every day, and often on his knees. The abbot St. Junian, St. Antoninus, St. Thomas, and other holy men are recorded to have read assiduously the lives of the saints, and by their example to have daily inflamed themselves with fervor in all virtues. St. Boniface of Mentz sent over to England for books of the lives of saints,[9] and, by reading the acts of the martyrs, animated himself with the spirit of martyrdom. This great apostle of Germany, St. Sigiran and others, always carried with them in their journeys the acts of the martyrs, that they might read them wherever they travelled. It is related of St. Anastasius the martyr, that "while he read the conflicts and victories of the martyrs, he watered the book with his tears, and prayed that he might suffer the like for Christ. And so much was he delighted with this exercise that he employed in it all his leisure hours." St. Teresa declares how much the love of virtue was kindled in her breast by this reading, even when she was a child. Joseph Scaliger, a rigid Calvinist critic, writes as follows on the acts of certain primitive martyrs:[10] "The souls of pious persons are so strongly affected in reading them, that they always lay down the book with regret. This every one may experience in himself. I with truth aver, that there is nothing in the whole history of the church with which I am so much moved: when I read them I seem no longer to possess myself."

It would be very easy to compile a volume of the remarkable testimonies of eminent and holy men concerning this most powerful help to virtue, and to produce many examples of sinners, who have been converted by it to an heroic practice of piety. St. Austin mentions two courtiers who were moved on the spot to forsake the world, and became fervent monks, by accidentally reading the life of St. Antony.[11] St. John Columbin, from a rich, covetous, and passionate nobleman, was changed into a saint, by casually reading the life of St. Mary of Egypt.[12] The duke of Joyeuse, marshal of France, owed his perfect conversion to the reading of the life of St. Francis Borgia, which his servant had one evening laid on the table. To these the example of St. Ignatius of Loyola, and innumerable others might be added. Dr. Palafox, the pious Binni of Osma, in his preface to the fourth tome of the letters of St. Teresa, relates, that an eminent Lutheran minister at Bremen, famous for several works which he had printed against the Catholic church, purchased the life of St. Teresa, written by herself, with a view of attempting to confute it; but, by attentively reading it over, was converted to the Catholic faith, and from that time led a most edifying life. The examples of Mr. Abraham Woodhead and others were not less illustrious.

But, to appeal to our own experience--who is not awakened from his spiritual lethargy, and confounded at his own cowardice, when he considers the fervor and courage of the saints? All our pretences and foolish objections are silenced, when we see the most perfect maxims of the gospel {048} demonstrated to be easy by example. When we read how many young noblemen and tender virgins have despised the world, and joyfully embraced the cross and the labors of penance, we feel a glowing flame kindled in our own breasts, and are encouraged to suffer afflictions with patience, and cheerfully to undertake suitable practices of penance. While we see many sanctifying themselves in all states, and making the very circumstances of their condition, whether on the throne, in the army, in the state of marriage, or in the deserts, the means of their virtue and penance, we are persuaded that the practice of perfection is possible also to us, in every lawful profession, and that we need only sanctify our employments by a perfect spirit, and the fervent exercises of religion, to become saints ourselves, without quitting our state in the world. When we behold others, framed of the same frail mould with ourselves, many in age or other circumstances weaker than ourselves, and struggling with greater difficulties, yet courageously surmounting, and trampling upon all the obstacles by which the world endeavored to obstruct their virtuous choice, we are secretly stung within our breasts, feel the reproaches of our sloth, are roused from our state of insensibility, and are forced to cry out, "Cannot you do what such and such have done?" But to wind up this discourse, and draw to a conclusion; whether we consult reason, authority, or experience, we may boldly affirm that, except the sacred writings, no book has reclaimed so many sinners, or formed so many holy men to perfect virtue, as that of _The Lives of Saints_.

If we would read to the spiritual profit of our souls, our motive must be a sincere desire of improving ourselves in divine love, in humility, meekness, and other virtues. Curiosity or vanity shuts the door of the heart to the Holy Ghost, and stifles in it all affections of piety. A short and humble petition of the divine light ought to be our preparation; for which we may say with the prophet, "Open thou mine eyes, and I will consider the wonderful things of thy law."[13] We must make the application of what we read to ourselves, entertain pious affections, and form particular resolutions for the practice of virtue. It is the admonition of a great servant of God,[14] "Whatever good instructions you read, unless you resolve and effectually endeavor to practise them with your whole heart, you have not read to the benefit of your soul. For knowledge without works only accuseth and condemneth." Though we cannot imitate all the actions of the saints, we can learn from them to practise humility, patience, and other virtues in a manner suiting our circumstances and state of life; and can pray that we may receive a share in the benedictions and glory of the saints. As they who have seen a beautiful flower-garden, gather a nosegay to smell at the whole day; so ought we, in reading, to cull out some flowers, by selecting certain pious reflections and sentiments with which we are most affected; and these we should often renew during the day; lest we resemble a man who, having looked at him self in the glass, goeth away, and forgetteth what he had seen of himself.

Footnotes: 1. St. Chrys. Conc. 3, de Lazaro. t. 1, p. 738, ed. Montfauc. 2. 1 Tim. iv. 13. 3. In angelo cum libello. 4. Heb. xii. 5. St. Aug. Serm. 280, t. 5, p. 1134. 6. Can. 47, Conc. t. 2, p. 1072. 7. St. Caesar. Serm. 95, vel apud St. Aug. t. 5, Append. Serm. 300. 8. St. Nilius, l. 4, ep. 1, Discipulo suo, p. 458. Item, Tr. e Monastica Exercitatione, c. 34 et c. 43, p. 40 et Peristeria, sect. 4, p. 99. 9. St. Bonif. ep. 35, Bibl. Patr. 10. Animadv. in Chronic. Eus. ad ann 2187. 11. Conf. l. 8, c. 6. 12. Fleury, l. 97, n. 2, t. 20. 13. Ps. cviii. 18. 14. Lansperg. Enchir. c. 11.

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AN INTRODUCTORY DISCOURSE.

THE lives of the principal martyrs, fathers, and other more illustrious saints, whose memory is revered in the Catholic church, are here presented to the public. An undertaking of this kind seems not to stand in need of an apology. For such are the advantages and so great the charms of history, that, on every subject, and whatever dress it wears, it always pleases and finds readers. So instructive it is, that it is styled by Cicero, "The mistress of life,"[1] and is called by others, "Moral philosophy exemplified in the lives and actions of mankind."[2] But, of all the parts of history, biography, which describes the lives of great men, seems both the most entertaining, and the most instructive and improving. By a judicious choice and detail of their particular actions, it sets before our eyes a living image of those heroes who have been the object of the admiration of past ages; it exhibits to us a portraiture of their interior virtues and spirit, and gives the most useful and enlarged view of human nature. From the wise maxims, experience, and even mistakes of great men, we learn the most refined lessons of prudence, and are furnished with models for our imitation. Neither is the narration here interrupted, nor the attention of the reader hurried from one object to another, as frequently happens in general history. On these and other accounts are the lives of eminent personages the most agreeable and valuable part of history. But, in the lives of the saints, other great advantages occur. Here are incidentally related the triumphs of the church, the trophies of the most exalted virtue, and the conversion of nations. What are profane histories better than records of scandals? What are the boasted triumphs of an Alexander or a Caesar but a series of successful plunders, murders, and other crimes? It was the remark of the historian Socrates, that if princes were all lovers of peace and fathers of their people, and if the lives of men were a uniform and steady practice of piety, civil history would be almost reduced to empty dates. This reflection extorted from the pen of a famous wit of our age, in his history of the empire of the West since Charlemagne, the following confession: "This history is scarcely any more than a vast scene of weaknesses, faults, crimes, and misfortunes; among which we find some virtues, and some successful exploits, as fertile valleys are often seen among chains of rocks and precipices. This is likewise the case with other histories."[3] But the lives of the saints are the history of the most exemplary and perfect virtue and prowess. While therefore all other branches of history employ daily so many pens, shall this, which above all others deserves our attention, be alone forgotten? While every other part of the soil is daily raked up, shall the finest spot be left uncultivated? Our antiquaries must think themselves obliged by this essay, as the greatest part of these saints have been the objects of the veneration of the whole Christian world during several ages. Their names stand recorded in the titles of our churches, in our towns, estates, writings, and {050} almost every other monument of our Christian ancestors. If the late learned bishop Tanner, by his _Notitia Monastica_, deserved the thanks of all lovers of antiquity, will they not receive favorably the history of those eminent persons of whom we meet so frequent memorials?

Besides the principal saint for each day, in this collection is added a short account of some others who were very remarkable in history, or famous among our ancestors. The English and Scottish churches had, by the mutual intercourse and neighborhood of the nations, a particular devotion to several French saints, as appears from all their ancient breviaries, from a complete English manuscript calendar, written in the reign of Edward IV., now in my hands, and from the titular saints of many monasteries and parishes. Our Norman kings and bishops honored several saints of Aquitain and Normandy by pious foundations which bear their names among us: and portions of the relics of some French saints, as of St. Salvius, kept in the cathedral of Canterbury, have rendered their names illustrious in this kingdom. The mention of such, were it but for the satisfaction of our antiquaries, &c., will, it is to be hoped, be pardoned. Though the limits of this work would not allow long abstracts of these secondary lives, yet some characteristical circumstances are inserted, that these memoirs might not sink into a bare _necrology_, or barren list of dates and names. For, unless a narration be supported with some degree of dignity and spirit, and diversified by the intermixture of various events, it deserves not the name of history; no more than a plot of ground can be called a garden, which is neither variegated with parterres of flowers, nor checkered with walks and beds of useful herbs or shrubs. To answer the title and design of this work, a short account is given of those fathers whose names are famous in the history of the church, and in the schools, but who have never been honored among the saints. But such fathers or other eminent persons are spoken of only in notes upon the lives of certain saints, with which they seem to have some connection. It was the compiler's intention to insert among the lives of the saints an account of none to whom public veneration has not been decreed by the authority of the Holy See, or at least of some particular churches, before this, on many just accounts, was reserved to the chief pastor of the church. The compiler declares that the epithets of Saint and Blessed are never employed in this work, but with entire submission to the decrees of Urban VIII. on this subject; and that if they are anywhere given to persons to whom the supreme pastors of the church have never juridically granted this privilege, no more is meant by them, than such persons are esteemed holy and venerable for the reputation of their virtue; not that they are publicly honored among the saints. The same is to be understood of miracles here related, which have not been judicially examined and approved, the part of an historian differing entirely from an authentic decision of the supreme judge.

The actions of several apostles and other illustrious saints were never committed to writing: and, with regard to some others, the records of their transactions, by falling a prey to the moths or flames, have perished in the general wreck: yet their names could not be omitted. If their history affords little to gratify vain curiosity, at least a heart which seeks and loves God will find, even in these scanty memoirs, every thing interesting and entertaining. If the names of some saints have been transmitted down to us without particular accounts of their lives,[4] their virtues shine with no {051} less lustre in heaven; and this very circumstance is pleasing and favorable to humility, which studies and loves to lie concealed and unknown; and it was pointed out by the hidden life of Christ. It is also objected, that certain actions of some saints, which were performed by a special instinct of the Holy Ghost, are to us rather objects of admiration than imitation; but even in these we read lessons of perfect virtue, and a reproach of our own sloth, who dare undertake nothing for God. But some may say, What edification can persons in the world reap from the lives of apostles, bishops, or recluses? To this it may be answered, that though the functions of their state differ from ours, yet patience, humility, penance, zeal, and charity, which all their actions breathe, are necessary virtues in all persons. Christian perfection is in its spirit and essence everywhere the same, how much soever the means or exercises may vary. Though edification be the primary view in works of this nature, the other ends of history are not neglected, as it becomes more entertaining and useful in proportion as it is more clear, complete, and important. This, it is hoped, will excuse certain short digressions which are sometimes inserted, and which the laws of correct writing allow when not too long, frequent, or foreign, when they have a natural connection with the subject, and when the want of regularity is compensated by greater perspicuity and utility. This liberty is more freely taken in parts which would have otherwise seemed barren. Notes are added, which seemed useful to the bulk of those for whom this work was designed, or likely to attract the curiosity of some to whom these lives would otherwise have seemed obscure, or not sufficiently interesting. This method renders sacred biography a more universal improvement in useful knowledge, and by enlarging the view, becomes more satisfactory and engaging.

Certain critics of this age, as they style themselves, are displeased with all histories of miracles, not considering that these wonders are, in a particular manner, the works of God, intended to raise our attention to his holy providence, and to awake our souls to praise his goodness and power, often also to bear testimony to his truth. Entirely to omit the mention of them would be an infidelity in history, and would tend, in some measure, to obstruct the great and holy purposes for which they were effected. Yet a detail of all miracles, though authentically attested, is not the design of this work. Wherefore, in such facts, it seemed often sufficient to refer the reader to the original records. But miracles may be the subject of a particular disquisition.

A tedious sameness in the narration hath been carefully avoided, and in relating general virtues, it is hoped that the manner, diction, and thoughts will be found new. Where memoirs allowed it, such a collection of remarkable actions and sayings of the saints hath been selected as seems neither trifling nor redundant; and may serve to express their character and spirit. In this consists the chief advantage of biography, as in painting, a portraiture draws its life from the strength of the features. By thus singular excellency doth Plutarch charm his readers, cover, or at least compensate for, his neglect of style and method, and other essential blemishes, and make even the most elegant writers who have attempted a supplement to his {052} lives,[5] to appear tedious and dull to one who hath first read his work. What eloquence could furnish so fine a description, or convey so strong a idea of the pride of Alexander, as the short answers of that prince to the Cynic philosopher, or to Darius? or of the modesty of Phocion, as the well-chosen circumstances of his disinterestedness and private life?[6]

In these lives of the saints pious reflections are sometimes interspersed, though in general sparingly, not to swell the volume, or seem to suspect the judgment of the reader, or to forestall the pleasure of his own reflections. The study and exercise of virtue being the principal end which every good Christian ought to propose to himself in all his actions and undertakings, and which religious persons have particularly in view in reading the lives of saints, in favor of those who are slow in forming suitable reflections in the reading, a short instruction, consisting of maxims drawn from the writing or example of each saint, is subjoined to the principal life for each day, which may be omitted at discretion. A succinct account of the writings of the fathers is given in marginal notes, as a key to young theologians in studying their works: their ascetical lucubrations are principally pointed out, in which their spirit is often discovered, even to better advantage than in the best histories which are left us of their actions.

The compiler's first care in this work, hath been a most scrupulous attachment to truth, the foundation, or rather the soul of all history, especially of that which tends to the advancement of piety and religion. The indagation is often a task both nice and laborious. If we weigh the merit of original authors, some we shall find careless and injudicious, and many write under the bias of party prejudice, which strangely perverts the judgment. By this, James Basnage could, in his History of the Jews, (b. 6,) notoriously mistake and misrepresent, by wholesale, the clearest authorities, to gratify his prepossession against an incontestable miracle, as the most learned Mr. Warburton hath demonstrated in his Julian, (b. 2, ch. 4.) Some write history as they would a tragedy or a romance; and, seeking at any rate to please the reader, or display their art, often sacrifice the truth for the sake of a fine conceit, of a glittering thought, or a point of wit.[7] Another difficulty is, that ancient writings have sometimes suffered much by the bold rashness of modern critics, or in the manuscripts, by the slips of careless copiers.[8] Again, authors who polish the style, or abridge the histories of others, are seldom to be trusted; and experience will show us the same of translations. Even Henry Valois, the most learned and celebrated Greek interpreter, is accused of having sometimes so far mistaken the sense of Eusebius, as to have given in his translation the contradictory of the meaning of his author.

A greater mischief than all these have been the forgeries of impostors, especially heretics. Indeed, if the father of lies, by the like instruments, {053} found means to counterfeit forty-eight or fifty false gospels, of which a list is given by Calmet,[9] is it surprising that, from the same forge, he should have attempted to adulterate the histories of certain saints? But the vigilance of zealous pastors, and the repeated canons of the church, show, through every age, how much all forgeries and imposture were always the object of their abhorrence. Pope Adrian I., in an epistle to Charlemagne, mentions this constant severe law of the church, and says, that no acts of martyrs are suffered to be read which are not supported by good vouchers.[10] The council in Trullo,[11] and many others down to the present age, have framed canons for this purpose, as F. Honoratus of St. Mary shows.[12] Pope Gelasius I., in his famous Roman council in 494, condemns the false acts of St. George, which the Arians had forged,[13] &c. Tertullian[14] and St. Jerom[15] inform us, that, in the time of the apostles, a certain priest of Asia, out of veneration for St. Paul and St. Thecla, forged false acts of their peregrinations and sufferings; but for this crime he was deposed from the priesthood by St. John the Evangelist. No good end can, on any account, excuse the least lie; and to advance that pious frauds, as some improperly call them, can ever be lawfully used, is no better than blasphemy. All wilful lying is essentially a sin, as Catholic divines unanimously teach, with St. Austin, against the Prisciallianists. It is contrary and most hateful to the God of truth, and a heinous affront and injury offered to our neighbor: it destroys the very end and use of speech, and the sacred bond of society, and all commerce among men; for it would be better to live among dumb persons, than to converse with liars. To tell any lie whatsoever in the least point relating to religion, is always to lie in a matter of moment, and can never be excused from a mortal sin, as Catholic divines teach.[16] Grotius, the Protestant critic, takes notice that forgeries cannot be charged upon the popes, who, by the most severe canons, forbid them, punish the authors if detected, and give all possible encouragement to judicious critics.[17] This also appears from the works of innumerable learned men among the Catholics, and from the unwearied labors with which they have given to the public the most correct editions of the ancient fathers and historians. Good men may sometimes be too credulous in things in which there appears no harm. Nay, Gerson observes,[18] that sometimes the more averse a person is from fraud himself, the more unwilling he is to suspect imposture in others. But no good man can countenance and abet a known fraud for any purpose whatever. The pretence of religion would exceedingly aggravate the crime.

If any particular persons among the monks could be convicted of having attempted to palm any false writing or lie on the world, the obligations of their profession would render their crime the more odious and enormous. But to make this a charge upon that venerable order of men in any age, is a most unjust and a notorious slander. Melchior Cano, who complains of interpolations which have crept into some parts of sacred biography, justifies the monks from the infamous imputation which some, through ignorance or malice, affect to cast upon them;[19] and Mabillon has vindicated them more at large.[20] On their diligence and scrupulosity in general, in correctly copying the manuscripts, see Dom. Coutant,[21] and the authors of the new {054} French Diplomatique.[22] In the Penitentia of St. Theodore the Studite, a penance is prescribed for a monk who had made any mistake in copying a manuscript. In 1196, in the general chapter of the Cistercians, it was ordered that the church of Lyons and the monastery of Cluni should be consulted about the true reading of a passage in a book to be copied. Anciently, books were chiefly copied and preserved in monasteries, which for several ages were the depositories of learning. Mr. Gurdon[23] and Bishop Tanner[24] take notice, that in England the great abbeys were even the repositories of the laws, edicts of kings, and acts of parliament. The history of Wales was compiled and kept through every age, by public authority, in the monastery of Ystratflur for South Wales, where the princes and noblemen of that country were interred; and in the abbey of Conwey for North Wales, which was the burying-place of the princes of that part. Conringius,[25] a German Protestant, writes, "In the sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries there is scarce to be found, in the whole Western church, the name of a person who had written a book, but what dwelt, or at least was educated in a monastery." Before universities were erected, monasteries, and often the palaces of bishops, were the seminaries of the clergy, the nurseries for the education of young noblemen, and the great schools of all the sciences. To the libraries and industry of the monks we are principally indebted for the works of the ancients which we possess. Grateful for this benefit, we ought not to condemn them because, by a fatality incident to human things, some works are come down to us interpolated or imperfect.[26]

Accidental causes have given frequent occasions to mistakes, which, when we consider, we cannot be surprised if sometimes good men have been deceived by false memoirs. As to authors of wilful forgeries, we have no name harsh enough to express, nor punishment equal to their crime. But the integrity even of Geoffry of Monmouth is no longer impeached, since it hath been proved that in his British history he was not the author of the fables which he published upon the credit of other vouchers.

Nevertheless, upon these, and the like accounts, history calls aloud for the discernment of criticism. And many learned men, especially of the monastic order, have, for our assistance, with no less industry than success, separated in ancient writings the sterling from the counterfeit, and by collating manuscripts, and by clearing difficult points, have rendered the path in this kind of literature smooth and secure. The merit of original authors hath been weighed; we have the advantage of most correct editions of their works; rash and groundless alterations of some modern critics, and the blunders of careless copiers or editors are redressed; interpolations foisted into the original writings are retrenched; and a mark hath been set on memoirs of inferior authority. Moreover, the value of ancient manuscripts, being known, ample repositories of such monuments have been made, curious lists of which are communicated to the public, that any persons may know and have recourse to them. It must also be added, that the laborious task of making the researches necessary for this complicated work, hath been rendered lighter by the care with which several judicious and learned men have compiled the lives of many particular saints. Thus have Mabillon and {055} Bulteau writ the lives of the saints of the order of St. Benedict; the elegant Touron of that of St. Dominick; Le Nain, of the Cistercian order; Tillemont, the Maurist Benedictin monks, and Orsi, these of the principal fathers of the church, &c.[27] The genuine acts of the primitive martyrs, the most valuable monument of ecclesiastical history, have been carefully published by Ruinart. Some of them are presidial acts, _i.e._ extracted from the court registers; others were written from the relations of eye-witnesses of undoubted veracity. To this treasure an accession, which the learned Orsi and others doubt not to call of equal value, hath been lately made by the publication of the genuine acts of the martyrs of the East, or of Persia, and of the West, or Palestine, in two volumes, folio, at Rome. Those of the East were written chiefly by St. Maruthus, a neighboring bishop of Mesopotamia: the others seem to contain the entire work of Eusebius on the martyrs of Palestine, which he abridged in the eighth book of his history. Both parts were found in a Chaldaic manuscript, in a monastery of Upper Egypt, and purchased by Stephen Evodius Assemani, archbishop of Apamea, and his uncle Joseph Simonius Assemani, first prefect of the Vatican library, at the charges of pope Clement XII., who had sent the former into the East on that errand. The manuscripts are deposited in the Vatican library. Joseph Assemani is known in the republic of letters by his invaluable Oriental library, his _Italicae Historiae Scriptores_, his _Kalendaria Ecclesiae Universae notis Ilustrata_, &c., and Stephen, by his share in the publication of the works of St. Ephrem, and by the _Acta Martyrum Orientalium et Occidentalium_. The learned Jesuits at Antwerp, Bollandus and his continuators, have given us the _Acta Sanctorum_, enriched with curious remarks and dissertations, in forty-one large volumes in folio, to the 5th day of September. To mention other monuments and writers here made use of, would be tedious and superfluous. The authorities produced throughout the work speak for themselves: the veracity of writers who cannot pretend to pass for inspired, ought to be supported by competent vouchers.

The original authors are chiefly our guides. The stream runs clear and pure from the source, which in a long course often contracts a foreign mixture; but the lucubrations of many judicious modern critics have cast a great light upon ancient historians: these, therefore, have been also consulted and compared, and their labors freely made use of.

Footnotes:
1. Cicero, l. 2, de Orat. c. 9.
2. Voss. Ars Hist. cap. 5.
3. Voltaire's Annals of the Empire of Germany.
4. Some call in question the existence of certain saints, as SS.
Bacchus, Quirinus, Mercurius, Nilammon, Hippolytus, &c., because
these names are of pagan original. But that Christians often
retained those names is evident, not only from the oldest
Martyrologies, but from Eusebius, Theodoret, and other ancient
writers, who often mention Christians named Apollonius and
Apollinerius, from Apollo &c., and St. Paul speaks of a disciple
called Hermes, or Mercurius; and had another named Dionysius, or
Bacchus. Dr. Geddes and others object to the existence of St.
Almnachius, St. George, St. Wenefred, &c., but we shall find their
honor supported in this work by irrefregable authorities. Longinus
not only signifies a spear, but was a Roman name, and that of a
soldier and martyr, on the 15th of March: whether he be the person
who opened the side of Christ with a spear or no, is a point of less
importance. Mr. Addison and Dr. Middleton thought they had hit on a
great discovery when they transformed Mount Soracte into St.
Orestes. But that mountain is commonly called, not St. Orestes, but
San Sylvestro, together with the monastery on its summit. Moreover,
we find both in the Roman Martyrology and Greek Menaea two saints of
the name of Orestes recorded, the one on the 9th of November, the
other on the 19th of December, who both suffered under Dioclesian,
one in Armenia, the other in Cappadocia. The latter is also named by
St. Gregory Nazianzen, in his oration on St. Basil. If, by slips of
copiers, mistakes have happened to some names, of accidental
circumstances; or if certain private persons should be convicted of
having been any time deceived in some saint, this would not affect
the credit of authentic general Martyrologies.
5. Mrs. Dacier, Mr. Rowe.
6. This made Theodorus Gaza say, that if learning must suffer a general
shipwreck, and he had only his choice left him of preserving one
author, Plutarch should be the man.
7. With this fault the famous king of Prussia, who is perfectly
acquainted with the affairs of the North, charged the florid author
of the history of Charles XII. of Sweden. Nor could this historian,
as it is said, give any other answer to the complaint of the
Hamburghers, that he had notoriously slandered them with regard to
their conduct towards the citizens of Altena, than that his fiction
was plausible and ingenious, founded in their mutual jealousy,
according to the maxim of dramatic writers, _Feign with
probability_. Of this cast, indeed, though we have many modern
examples, we know, perhaps, none among the authors of antiquity.
8. Thirty thousand various readings were found by Mr. Mills in the
Greek New Testament; Dr. Bentley reckoned twenty thousand in
Terence, and twice as many as there are verses in the poet Manilius.
Even the most valuable Vatican and Alexandrian manuscripts of the
Bible abound in faults of the copiers; and editions of works made
from single manuscripts are always very defective.--witness those of
Cornelius Nepos, and the Greek Hesychius. Patrick Young, (called in
Latin, Patricius Junius,) when keeper of the king's library at
London, scrupled not to erase and alter several words in the most
valuable Alexandrian Greek manuscript copy of the Bible, as is
visible to this day. What wonder, then, (how intolerable such
liberties are,) if the like has been sometimes done by others in
books of less note, with a presumption like that of Dr. Bentley in
his amendments of Horace.
9. Prelim Dissert. on St. Matthew.
10. Sine probabilibus autoribus, Conc. t. 7, 954.
11. Can. 62.
12. Regies de la Critique, t. 2, p. 12, 20, et Diss. 3, p. 134.
13. See Mabillon, Disquis. de Cursu Gallic. Sec.1.
14. Tert. l. de Bapt. c. 17.
15. Catal. Vir Illustr. c. 7.
16. See Nat. Alexander, Collet, Henno, &c., in Decalogum de Mendacio.
17. Grot. l. de Antichr. t. 3, Op. Theolog.
18. Gerson, ep. ad Morel.
19. De Loc. Theol. l. 11, c. 5.
20. Diplomat. l. 3, c. 3.
21. Coutant, Vindic. veter. Cod. Confirm. p. 32, 550, &c.
22. Diplom. t. 4, p. 452, &c.
23. Gurdon, Hist. of Parliament, t. 1.
24. Pref. to Notitia Monastica, in folio.
25. Dissert. 3, de Antiq. Acad.
26. How easy was the mistake of a copyist or bookseller, who ascribed
the works of some modern Austin to the great doctor of that name? or
who, finding several sermons of St. Caesarius annexed in the same copy
to those of St. Austin, imagined them all to belong to one title?
Several disciples published, under the names of St. Austin, St.
Gregory, or St. Zeno, sermons or comments which they had heard from
their mouths: by the same means we have three different editions of
the confession of St. Ephrem. We have already seen many works
falsely published under the name of Boerhaave, which never came from
his pen; as, The Method of Studying Physic, Materia Medica, Praxis
Medica, and a spurious edition of his Chemistry, which seem all to
come from the pens of his scholars.
27. Among the compilers of the lives of saints, some wanted the
discernment of criticism. Simeon Metaphrastes, patrician, first
secretary and chancellor to the emperors Leo the Wise, and
Constantine Porphyrogenitus, in 912, (of whose collection one
hundred and twenty-two lives are still extant,) sometimes altered
the style of his authors where it appeared flat or barbarous, and
sometimes inserted later additions and interpolations, often not
sufficiently warranted, though not by him forged; for Psellus, in
his panegyric, furnishes us with many proofs of his piety. See Cave,
(Hist. Liter. t. 2, p. 88,) who, with other judicious critics,
entertains a much more favorable opinion of Metaphrastes than
Baillet. See Metaphrastes vindicated by Leo Allatius. (Diatr. de
Nilis, p. 24.) James de Voragine, of the order of St. Dominick, and
archbishop of Genoa, author of the _Golden Legend_, in 1290, wrote
still with less judgment, and, in imitation of Livy, often made the
martyrs speak his own language. Lippoman, bishop of Verona in 1550,
and Laurence Surius, a Carthusian monk of Cologne in 1570, sometimes
wanted the necessary helps for discernment in the choice of
materials. The same is to be said of Ribadeneira, except in the
lives of saints who lived near his own time, though a person
otherwise well qualified for a writer of sacred biography. Several
who have augmented his works in France, Spain, or Italy, labored
under the same misfortune and often gathered together whatever the
drag-net of time had amassed. John Capgrave, an Austin friar, some
time confessor to the duke of Gloucester, who died at Lynn in
Norfolk, in 1484, compiled the legend of the saints of England, from
a more ancient collection, the Sanctilogium of John of Tinmouth, a
monk of St. Alban's, in 1366, of which a very fair manuscript copy
was, before the last fire, extant in the Cottonian library. By the
melting of the glue and warping of the leaves, this book is no
longer legible unless some such method be used as that which is
employed in unfolding the parched and mouldering manuscripts found
in the ruins of Herculaneum.

On the other hand, some French critics in sacred biography have
tinctured their works with a false and pernicious leaven, and, under
the name of criticism, established skepticism.

{056 blank page} {057}

CONTENTS.

JANUARY.

1. THE Circumcision of our Lord..................... 59 St. Fulgentius, Bishop and Confessor............. 63 St. Odilo, or Olon, Sixth Abbot of Cluni......... 69 St. Almachus, or Telemachus, Martyr.............. 71 St. Eugendus, Abbot.............................. 71 St. Fanchea, or Faine, Virgin, of Ireland........ 72 St. Mochua, or Moncain, alias Claunus, Abbot in Ireland..................................... 72 St. Mochua, alias Cronan, of Bella, Abbot in Ireland........................................ 72

2. St. Macarius, of Alexandria, Anchoret............ 73 SS. Martyrs for the Holy Scriptures.............. 76 St. Concordius, Martyr........................... 77 St. Adalard, or Alard, Abbot and Confessor....... 77

3. St. Peter Balsam, Martyr......................... 80 St. Anterus, Pope................................ 81 St. Gordius, Martyr.............................. 81 St. Genevieve, or Genovefa, Virgin, Patroness of Paris.......................................... 82

4. St. Titus, Disciple of St. Paul, Bishop.......... 86 St. Gregory, Bishop of Langres................... 88 St. Rigobert, or Robert, Bishop.................. 88 St. Rumon, Bishop in England..................... 88

5. St. Simon Stylites, Confessor.................... 89 St. Telesphorus, Pope and Martyr ................ 93 St. Syncletica, Virgin .......................... 93

6. The Epiphany of our Lord......................... 95 St. Melanius, Bishop and Confessor............... 100 St. Nilammon, Hermit............................. 100 St. Peter, Abbot in England...................... 100

7. St. Lucian, Priest and Martyr.................... 101 St. Cedd, Bishop of London....................... 103 St. Kentigerna, Widow, of Ireland................ 105 St. Aldric, Bishop of Mans, Confessor............ 105 St. Thillo, Recluse.............................. 106 St. Canut........................................ 107

8. St. Apollinaris, the Apologist, Bishop........... 108 St. Severinus, Abbot, and Apostle of Noricum, or Austria .................................... 110 St. Lucian, Apostle of Beauvais, in France, Martyr......................................... 112 St. Pega, Virgin, of England..................... 112 St. Vulsin, Bishop in England.................... 112 St. Gudula, Virgin, Patroness of Brussels........ 113 St. Nathalan, Bishop of Aberdeen, Confessor...... 113

9. St. Peter of Sebaste, Bishop and Confessor....... 114 St. Julian and St. Basilissa, Martyrs............ 114 St. Marciana, Virgin and Martyr.................. 116 St. Brithwald, Archbishop of Canterbury.......... 117 St. Felan, or Foelan, Abbot in Ireland .......... 117 St. Adrian, Abbot at Canterbury.................. 118 St. Vaneng, Confessor............................ 118 St. William, Confessor, Archbishop of Bourges.... 120 St. Agatho, Pope................................. 122 St. Marcian, Priest.............................. 123

11. St. Theodosius the Cenobiarch, Abbot............. 124 St. Hyginus, Pope and Martyr..................... 127 St. Egwin, Bishop in England, Confessor.......... 128 St. Salvius, or Sauve, Bishop of Amiens.......... 128

12. St. Arcadius, Martyr............................. 129 St. Benedict Bishop, Abbot....................... 131 St. Tygrius and St. Eutropius, Martyrs........... 133 St. Aelred, Abbot in England..................... 133

13. St. Veronica, Virgin, of Milan................... 135 St. Kentigern, Bishop of Glasco, Confessor....... 137 The Octave of the Epiphany....................... 139

14. St. Hilary, Bishop............................... 140 St. Felix, Priest and Confessor.................. 147 St. Isaias, St. Sabbas, &c. Martyrs of Sinai..... 149 St. Barbasceminus, &c. Martyrs .................. 150

15. St. Paul, the First Hermit....................... 151 St. Maurus, Abbot................................ 154 St. Main, Abbot, Native of England............... 155 St. John Calybite, Recluse....................... 155 St. Isidore of Alexandria, Priest and Hospitaller 156 St. Isidore of Scete, Priest and Hermit.......... 157 St. Bonitus, Bishop of Auvergne, Confessor....... 157 St. Ita, or Mida, Virgin of Ireland, Abbess...... 158

16. St. Marcellus, Pope and Martyr................... 158 St. Macarius the Elder, of Egypt................. 159 St. Honoratus, Archbishop of Arles, Abbot........ 162 St. Fursey, Abbot In Ireland..................... 163 SS. Five Friars, Minors, Martyrs................. 164 St. Henry, Hermit................................ 164

17. St. Antony, Abbot, Patriarch of Monks............ 165 SS. Speusippus, Eleusippus, and Meleusippus, Martyrs........................................ 172

{058}

St. Sulpicius the Pious, Archbishop of Bourges... 173 St. Sulpicius de Debonnaire, Archbishop of Bourges..................................... 173 St. Milgithe, Virgin, of England................. 174 St. Nennius, or Nennidhius, Abbot In Ireland..... 174

18. St. Peter's Chair at Rome........................ 175 St. Paul and Thirty-six Companions in Egypt, Martyrs........................................ 176 St. Prisca, Virgin and Martyr.................... 176 St. Deicolus, Abbot, Native of Ireland .......... 177 St. Ulfrid, or Wolfred, Bishop and Martyr........ 177

19. St. Maris, St. Martha, St. Audifax, and St Abachum, Martyrs............................... 178 St. Canutus, King of Denmark, Martyr............. 179 St. Henry, Archbishop of Upsal, Martyr........... 180 St. Wulstan, Bishop of Worcester, Confessor...... 181 St. Blaithmaic, Native of Ireland, Abbot of Hij in Scotland....................................... 182 St. Lomer, or Laudomarus, Abbot.................. 182

20. St. Fabian, Pope and Martyr...................... 183 St. Sebastian, Martyr............................ 183 St. Euthymius, Abbot............................. 185 St. Fechin, Abbot in Ireland..................... 187

21. St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr..................... 188 St. Fructuosus, Bishop of Tarragon, and his Companions, Martyrs............................ 190 St. Vimin, or Vivian, Bishop and Confessor, in Scotland....................................... 192 St. Publius, Bishop and Martyr................... 192 St. Epiphanius, Bishop of Pavia.................. 192

22. St. Vincent, Martyr.............................. 193 St. Anastasius, Martyr........................... 196

23. St. Raymund of Pennafort, Confessor.............. 200 St. John the Almoner, Confessor, Patriarch of Alexandria..................................... 203 St. Emerentia, Virgin and Martyr................. 206 St. Clement of Ancyra, Bishop and Martyr......... 207 St. Agathangelus, Martyr......................... 207 St. Ildelfonsus, Archbishop...................... 207 St. Eusebius, Abbot.............................. 208

24. St. Timothy, Bishop and Martyr................... 208 St. Babylas, Bishop of Antioch, Martyr .......... 211 St. Suranus, Abbot in Umbria..................... 213 St. Macedonius, Anchoret In Syria................ 213 On the life and Writings of Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus.......................................... 213

25. The Conversion of St. Paul....................... 216 St. Juventius and St. Maximinus, Martyrs......... 219 On the Life and Writings of Julian the Apostate.. 219 St. Projectus, Bishop of Clermont, Martyr........ 220 St. Poppo, Abbot of Stavello..................... 221 St. Apollo, Abbot in Thebais..................... 222 St. Publius, Abbot near Zeugma, upon the Euphrates...................................... 222

26. St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, Martyr........... 223 St. Paula, Widow................................. 229 St. Conon, Bishop of the Isle of Man............. 232

27. St. John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople.................................. 233 On the Writings of that Father................... 252 St. Julian, First Bishop of Mans, Confessor...... 275 St. Marius, Abbot................................ 275

28. Commemoration of St. Agnes....................... 276 St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria............... 276 On the Writings of that Father................... 279 St. Thyrsus, St. Leucius, and St. Callinicus, Martyrs........................................ 283 St. John of Reomay, Abbot........................ 283 B. Margaret, Princess of Hungary, Virgin......... 284 St. Paulinus, Patriarch of Aquileia, Confessor... 284 B. Charlemagne, Emperor.......................... 287 St. Glastian, Bishop and Confessor in Scotland... 289

29.

St. Francis of Sales, Bishop and Confessor....... 289 St. Sulpicius Severus............................ 303 On the Writings of that Saint.................... 305 St. Gildas the Wise, or Badonicus, Abbot, Native of England ............................ 306 St. Gildas the Albanian, or the Scot, Confessor.. 310

30. St. Bathildes, Queen of France................... 310 St. Martina, Virgin and Martyr................... 312 St. Aldegondes, Virgin and Abbess................ 313 St. Barsimaeus, Bishop and Martyr................. 313

31. St. Peter Nolasco, Confessor..................... 314 St. Serapion, Martyr in England.................. 317 St. Cyrus and St. John, Martyrs.................. 317 St. Marcella, Widow.............................. 318 St. Maidoc, or Maodhog, Bishop of Ferns in Ireland........................................ 318

{059}

JANUARY I.

THE CIRCUMCISION OF OUR LORD[1]

CIRCUMCISION was a sacrament of the Old Law, and the first legal observance required by Almighty God of that people, which he had chosen preferably to all the nations of the earth to be the depositary of his revealed truths.--These were the descendants of Abraham, whom he had enjoined it, under the strictest penalties,[2] several hundred years before the giving of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai; and this on two several accounts: First, as a distinguishing mark between them and the rest of mankind. Secondly, as a seal to a covenant between God and that patriarch: whereby it was stipulated on God's part to bless Abraham and his posterity; while on their part it implied a holy engagement to be his people, by a strict conformity to his laws. It was, therefore, a sacrament of initiation in the service of God, and a promise and engagement to believe and act as he had revealed and directed. Circumcision is also looked upon by St. Austin, and by several eminent modern divines,[3] to have been the expedient, in the male posterity of Abraham, for removing the guilt of original sin, which in those who did not belong to the covenant of Abraham, nor fall under this law was remitted by other means, probably by some external act of faith.